U.S. considers endangered classification for butterfly found prominently in Michigan

The Poweshiek skipperling butterfly, no bigger than a quarter, sits on a blade of grass. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is considering placing endangered status protection on the Powesheik, which is now primarily found in Michigan. (Photo provided by Dave Cuthrell)

FYI

The Powesiek skipperling butterfly is a threatened species on the brink of endangerment. It is found most prominently in warm weather in prairie fen areas — grassy wetlands that are often flooded — and feeds on pollen from many local flowers, such as the Black-Eyed Susan. Surveys indicate that Poweshiek skipperlings are gone from nearly 90 percent of the sites where they were previously found. For more information on the federal proposal to list the Powesiek skipperling butterfly as endangered, visit www.fws.gov/midwest/endangered.

Conservation Scientist Dave Cuthrell fears nearly 10 years he spent studying a nearly endangered butterfly no bigger than a quarter may be coming to a close.

“They’re beautiful little guys that are an important part of the ecosystem,” said Cuthrell of the Poweshiek skipperling butterfly. “But there’s been a really marked population decline in Michigan — only in the last three years ... (and) to be honest, we don’t know why.”

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is hosting an informational meeting tonight in Holly Township for those with questions about a recent federal proposal to protect two butterflies under the Endangered Species Act. The meeting will be held from 5:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at Rose Pioneer Elementary School located at 7110 Milford Rd.

The Poweshiek skipperling, which has been seen darting from flower to flower in Holly, is on the brink of becoming an endangered species with a critical habitat. While there are several theories on why the creature’s population is dwindling — habitat loss and destruction, disease organisms, pesticides and more — Cuthrell, entomologist for Michigan State University Extension in Lansing, said those in the conservation realm can’t come to a consensus.

The small, dark brown and light orange butterfly with a 1-inch wing span used to be prevalent in Michigan and seven other states — as well as Canada — before habitat decline led to the species’ scarcity.

Now, Michigan holds the world’s largest population of the insect — but that’s not saying much, said conservationist Cuthrell.

“In 2011, I came to a highly populated area, and observed 115 (Poweshiek),” Cuthrell said. “In 2012 in the same place, I saw less than 10, and in 2013, there were zero located ... although they could still be there.”

Another species, the Dakota skipper, is a proposed threatened species and is not found in Michigan.

Georgia Parham, a spokesperson for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, said the meeting in Holly is an opportunity for interested residents to glean information from experts regarding how these classifications could affect them and the use of affected land.

“We have public information meetings to let people know what we’re doing, what we’re proposing, what it means for people who might have these species on their land and answer questions,” she said. “It’s for people who are interested in this proposal to find out about the two butterfly species and how it might affect them.”

Specifically, the Holly State Recreation Area and more than 50 private landowners in Oakland County currently share space with the small creature, said Fish and Wildlife Endangered Species Coordinator Barbara Hosler.

Pending the Poweshiek’s designation as an endangered species, a total of 26,184 acres — 2,060 in Michigan alone — is being proposed for designation as critical habitat for the Poweshiek skipperling in Michigan, Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota and South Dakota. Another 27,782 acres in North Dakota, South Dakota and Minnesota would be designated for the Dakota skipper.

If designated, a recovery plan will be put in place once a team of experts appointed by Fish and Wildlife determines the species’ specific needs — a plan that could include anything from a reintroduction program to habitat expansion, depending on available resources.

Phil Delphey, a biologist with Fish and Wildlife’s Twin Cities Ecological Field Services Office, said a conservation effort could have some unintended — yet beneficial — side effects.

“It can help protect the ecosystems that these species depend on,” he said. “In Michigan, that would be those prairie fens. It’s a unique community of different plants and animals that are all probably pretty rare because that ecosystem just over the decade has been degraded and reduced in scope.”

It’s not difficult to dismiss what some might consider to be just a butterfly, said Fish and Wildlife’s Parham.

“It’s easy to look at things like butterflies or beetles and say ‘What’s the difference if they’re gone,’” Parham said. “These particular species are very closely associated with prairie habitats, which support a lot of other unique species.”

But the implications could mean much more for our environment.

“As you see species like these becoming rarer and rarer, you’re seeing the decline of an entire ecosystem,” she said. “They are little pieces of the bigger puzzle and when you lose enough pieces, the puzzle doesn’t work.”

John Turk covers the police beat and the Oakland County Board of Commissioners for The Oakland Press. He is a graduate of Eastern Michigan University. Reach the author at john.turk@oakpress.com
or follow John on Twitter: @jrturk.